Equestrianism in the context of Working animal

Athletics is a term encompassing the human competitive sports and games requiring physical skill, and the systems of training that prepare athletes for competitive performance. Athletic sports or contests are competitions which are primarily based on human physical competition, demanding the qualities of stamina, fitness, and skill. Athletic sports form the bulk of popular sporting activities, with other major forms including motorsports, precision sports, extreme sports and animal sports.

Athletic contests, as one of the earliest types of sport, are prehistoric and comprised a significant part of the Ancient Olympic Games, along with equestrian events. The word "athletic" is derived from the Ancient Greek: άθλος (athlos) meaning "contest." Athletic sports became organized in the late 19th century with the formation of organizations such as the Amateur Athletic Union in the United States and the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques in France. The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the National Collegiate Athletic Association) was established in 1906 to oversee athletic sports at college-level in the United States, known as college athletics.

Historically, cavalry (from the French word cavalerie, itself derived from cheval meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in the roles of reconnaissance, screening, and skirmishing, or as heavy cavalry for decisive economy of force and shock attacks. An individual soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations depending on era and tactics, such as a cavalryman, horseman, trooper, cataphract, knight, drabant, hussar, uhlan, mamluk, cuirassier, lancer, dragoon, samurai or horse archer. The designation of cavalry was not usually given to any military forces that used other animals or platforms for mounts, such as chariots, camels or elephants. Infantry who moved on horseback, but dismounted to fight on foot, were known in the early 17th to the early 18th century as dragoons, a class of mounted infantry which in most armies later evolved into standard cavalry while retaining their historic designation.

Cavalry had the advantage of improved mobility, and a soldier fighting from horseback also had the advantages of greater height, speed, and inertial mass over an opponent on foot. Another element of horse mounted warfare is the psychological impact a mounted soldier can inflict on an opponent.

A riding boot is a boot made to be used for horse riding. The classic boot comes high enough up the leg to prevent the leathers of the saddle from pinching the leg of the rider, has a sturdy toe to protect the rider's foot when on the ground and has a distinct heel to prevent the foot from sliding through the stirrup. The sole is smooth or lightly textured to avoid being caught on the tread of the stirrup in the event of a fall.

The modern riding boot is relatively low-heeled, with a heel of less than one inch, though historically a higher heel was common, as it has always been critically important for riding boots to prevent the foot from slipping through the stirrup. Today, only some styles of cowboy boot retain a higher heel than other modern riding boots.

Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic premise – to identify which of two or more horses is the fastest over a set course or distance – has been mostly unchanged since at least classical antiquity.

Horse races vary widely in format, and many countries have developed their own particular traditions around the sport. Variations include restricting races to particular breeds, running over obstacles, running over different distances, running on different track surfaces, and running in different gaits. In some races, horses are assigned different weights to carry to reflect differences in ability, a process known as handicapping.

A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. The trade of making saddles is saddlery.

It is not known precisely when riders first began to use some sort of padding or protection, but a blanket attached by some form of surcingle or girth was probably the first "saddle", followed later by more elaborate padded designs. The solid saddle tree was a later invention, and though early stirrup designs predated the invention of the solid tree, the paired stirrup, which attached to the tree, was the last element of the saddle to reach the basic form that is still used today. Present-day saddles come in a wide variety of styles, each designed for a specific equestrianism discipline, and require careful fit to both the rider and the horse. Proper saddle care can extend the useful life of a saddle, often for decades. The saddle was a crucial step in the increased use of domesticated animals, during the Classical Era.

A horseshoe is a piece of equestrian equipment that protects a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall, anatomically akin to the human toenail. Horseshoes can also be glued in certain situations.

Horseshoes are available in a wide variety of materials and styles, developed for different types of horses and for the work they do. The most common materials are steel and aluminium, but specialized shoes may include use of rubber, plastic, magnesium, titanium, or copper. Steel tends to be preferred in sports in which a strong, long-wearing shoe is needed, such as polo, eventing, show jumping, and western riding events. Aluminium shoes are lighter, making them common in horse racing where a lighter shoe is desired, and often facilitate certain types of movement; they are often favored in the discipline of dressage. Some horseshoes have "caulkins", "caulks", or "calks": protrusions at the toe or heels of the shoe, or both, to provide additional traction.

A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words pente (five) and -athlon (competition) (Greek: πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Ancient Olympic Games. Five events were contested over one day for the Ancient Olympic pentathlon, starting with the long jump, javelin throwing, and discus throwing, followed by the stadion (a short foot race) and wrestling. Pentathletes were considered to be among the most skilled athletes, and their training was often part of military service—each of the five events in the pentathlon was thought to be useful in war or battle.

With the revival of the Olympic Games in the modern era, the pentathlon returned in two formats. The athletics pentathlon was a modern variation on the original events, with a competition over five track and field events. The modern pentathlon, invented by Pierre de Coubertin (father of the Modern Olympics), was a variation on the military aspect of the Ancient pentathlon. It focused on the skills required by a late-19th-century soldier, with competitions in shooting, swimming, fencing, equestrianism, and cross country running. A prominent aspect of modern pentathlons is the point system, whereby each competitor is awarded a certain number of points based on their performance in each specific event. The overall winner is the competitor with the highest point total at the end of the five pentathlon events.

Equestrian competitions in all three disciplines at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics were held from 9 August to 21 August at the Hong Kong Sports Institute and Sheung Yue River in Hong Kong. It was the second time that the equestrian events were hosted by a member of the IOC other than the member hosting the main games (although this time the events were technically held in the same country as the main games). Unlike 1956, however, the equestrian events were part of the main games, and were held within the same period.

Stade Olympique de Chamonix is an equestrian stadium in Chamonix, France. It hosted the opening and closing ceremonies to the 1924 Winter Olympics along with cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, ice hockey, military patrol, the cross-country skiing part of the Nordic combined, and the speed skating events. The stadium holds 45,000.

Mounted archery is a form of archery that involves shooting arrows while on horseback. A horse archer is a person who does mounted archery. Archery has occasionally been used from the backs of other riding animals. In large open areas, mounted archery was a highly successful technique for hunting, for protecting herds, and for war. It was a defining characteristic of the Eurasian nomads during antiquity and the medieval period, as well as the Iranian peoples such as the Alans, Sarmatians, Cimmerians, Scythians, Massagetae, Parthians, and Persians in Antiquity, and by the Hungarians, Mongols, Chinese, and Turkic peoples during the Middle Ages. The expansion of these cultures have had a great influence on other geographical regions including Eastern Europe, West Asia, and East Asia. In East Asia, horse archery came to be particularly honored in the samurai tradition of Japan, where horse archery is called Yabusame.

The term mounted archer occurs in medieval English sources to describe a soldier who rode to battle but who dismounted to shoot, similar to the later firearm-equipped dragoons. Horse archer is the term used more specifically to describe a warrior who shoots from the saddle at the gallop. Another term, "horseback archery", has crept into modern use.

The Altos de Jalisco, or the Jaliscan Highlands, is a geographic and cultural region in the eastern part of the Mexican state of Jalisco, famed as a bastion of Mexican culture, cradling traditions from Tequila production to Charrería equestrianism. Los Altos are part of the greater Bajío (The Lowlands) region of Mexico.

The Altos are primarily a rural or semi-rural region, known for its towns of historic Mexican colonial architecture, deep Catholic conservatism and numerous Mexican traditions such as equestrianism, mariachi music, tequila production, and traditional Mexican dances and festivals. A significant portion of the population consists of Mexicans of European descent, primarily from the criollos of Castillian, Extremaduran, Galician, Basque, and Andalusian origin, but also from early Portuguese, Italian and Sephardic Jews settlers and later immigrants from other parts of Europe.

British Equestrian (previously the British Equestrian Federation), founded 1972 is the national governing body of equestrian sport in Great Britain and represents the country at the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI). The Queen is the organisation's patron.

The Hausa (autonyms for singular: Bahaushe (m), Bahaushiya (f); plural: Hausawa and general: Hausa; exonyms: Ausa; Ajami: مُتَنٜىٰنْ هَوْسَا / هَوْسَاوَا) are a native ethnic group in West Africa. They speak the Hausa language, which is the second most spoken language after Arabic in the Afro-Asiatic language family. The Hausa are a culturally homogeneous people based primarily in the Sahelian and the sparse savanna areas of southern Niger and northern Nigeria respectively, numbering around 86 million people, with significant populations in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Chad, the Central African Republic, Togo, and Ghana, as well as smaller more recent populations in Sudan, Eritrea.

Predominantly Hausa-speaking communities are scattered throughout West Africa and on the traditional Hajj route north and east traversing the Sahara, with an especially large population in and around the town of Agadez. Other Hausa have also moved to large neighbouring coastal cities in the region such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, Accra, Abidjan and Cotonou as well as to parts of North Africa such as Libya over the course of the last 500 years. The Hausa are traditionally agriculturists who live in small villages as well as in precolonial towns and cities. The Hausa aristocracy had historically developed an equestrian based culture. Still a status symbol of the traditional nobility in Hausa society, the horse still features in the Eid day celebrations, known as Ranar Sallah (in English: the Day of the Prayer). Daura is the cultural center of the Hausa people. The town predates all the other major Hausa towns in tradition and culture.

Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows are limited exclusively to jumpers. Sometimes jumper classes are offered in conjunction with other English-style events. Sometimes, show jumping is but one division of a very large, all-breed competition that includes a very wide variety of disciplines. Jumping classes may be governed by various national horse show sanctioning organizations, such as the United States Equestrian Federation or the British Showjumping Association. International competitions are governed by the rules of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.

A riding horse or a saddle horse is a horse used by mounted horse riders for recreation or transportation.

It is unclear exactly when horses were first ridden because early domestication did not create noticeable physical changes in the horse. However, there is strong circumstantial evidence that horse were ridden by people of the Botai culture during the Copper Age, circa 3600–3100 BCE. The earliest evidence suggesting horses were ridden dates to about 3500 BCE, where evidence from horse skulls found at site in Kazakhstan indicated that they had worn some type of bit. Evidence from Bhimbetka rock shelters suggests mounts were used at least 10,000 BCE. facets of 3 mm or more were found on seven horse premolars in two sites, Botai and Kozhai 1, dated about 3500–3000 BCE. It is theorized that people herding animals first rode horses for this purpose, presumably bareback, and probably used soft materials such as rope or possibly bone to create rudimentary bridles and hackamores. However, the earliest definitive evidence of horses being ridden dates to art and textual evidence dating to about 2000–1500 BCE.

Sidesaddle riding is a form of equestrianism that uses a type of saddle that allows riders, generally female, to sit aside rather than astride an equine. Sitting aside dates back to antiquity and developed in European countries in the Middle Ages as a way for women in skirts to ride a horse modestly.

The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie 100 to 150 miles (160 to 240 km) east of the U.S. Pacific coast. The trail's southern terminus is next to the Mexico–United States border, just south of Campo, California, and its northern terminus is on the Canada–US border, upon which it continues unofficially to the Windy Joe Trail within Manning Park in British Columbia; it passes through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington.

The Pacific Crest Trail is 2,653 mi (4,270 km) long and ranges in elevation from roughly 110 feet (34 m) above sea level near the Bridge of the Gods on the Oregon–Washington border to 13,153 feet (4,009 m) at Forester Pass in the Sierra Nevada. The route passes through 25 national forests and 7 national parks. Its midpoint is near Chester, California (near Mt. Lassen), where the Sierra and Cascade mountain ranges meet. The overall elevation gain for the Pacific Crest Trail is approximately 489,000 ft (149,000 m).

Philip Astley (8 January 1742 – 20 October 1814) was an English equestrian, circus owner, and inventor, regarded as being the "father of the modern circus". Modern circus, as an integrated entertainment experience that includes music, domesticated animals, acrobats, and clowns, traces its heritage to Astley's Amphitheatre, a riding school that Astley founded in London following the success of trick-riding displays given by him and his wife Patty Jones in 1768. Astley's first competitor was equestrian Charles Hughes, who had previously worked with Astley. Together with Charles Dibdin, a famous author of pantomimes, Hughes opened a rival amphitheatre in London, which Dibdin called the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy.

Astley and his wife Patty put on their first public show on Easter Monday, 4 April 1768. extending the equestrian performance with exhibitions of warlike sabre-work and sword-play. The initial performances were done in the open air at Ha'penny (= Halfpenny) Hatch, a field in Lambeth, London, near the present site of Waterloo railway station. The Astleys also performed at other locations in London. Astley performed his stunts in a circular arena, though Astley never used the title of 'circus' for his shows. Astley's 'Ride' (he also called it 'the Circle') was a ring 65 ft (19 metres) in diameter. Later, the size evolved to become standardised at 42 feet (13 metres) which is the size used by circuses ever since. Leasing more permanent premises at Westminster Bridge from 1769, he improved conditions for audiences with a covered stands. The performances themselves, however, were still performed in the open. In 1770 he hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers and a clown to fill in the pauses between acts. and so initiated the format which we now know as a 'circus' and which has since spread to many countries.